Waterloo Area Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
382083275
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Stockbridge, MI, USA
Phone
5175962254
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Reported finances

Revenue
$140,259
Expenses
$104,850
Assets
$1,937,541
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIAN DEWEY (PRESIDENT)
  • ARLENE KAISER (PRESIDENT &)
  • CHAD KINCH (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JIM HUNT (TRUSTEE)
  • BUTCH RICHMOND (TRUSTEE)
  • JENNY SMITH (TRUSTEE)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To educate adults and children in the ways of pioneer farm life and schooling through educational programs and events.

What it reported doing in 2024

Pioneer day this event takes place on the second sunday in october. The grounds of the waterloo farm museum come alive with a great variety of demonstrators showing how families lived and worked during the 1800's. The blacksmiths, weavers, sheep shearers and others demonstrate their skills. The farm house is open for tours. There are vendors present displaying and selling their hand crafted wares. The gift shop is open. There is also a flower barn where a great variety of dried flower arrangements may be purchased. There is a farm wagon where donated farm crops and baked goods may be purchased. Wagon rides and live entertainment are also available. The proceeds from this event are used to help maintain and upgrade the farm museum and dewey school. Attendence between 2,000 and 3,000.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 34
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 33.5%; rating input score 34
  • Program expense ratio: 44.5%; rating input score 44
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25.2%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 18.48; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 33.5% of revenue deployed · 44.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $47K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.